Umbrella of reducible length



Nov. 16, 1965 F. SZIVATZ ETAL 3,217,724

UMBRELLA 0F REDUCIBLE LENGTH Filed Oct. 14, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS- FEDOR 521m 12 JOHANN EDER y HEINR/C wus TER Nov. 16, 1965 F. SZIVATZ ETAL UMBRELLA OF REDUCIBLE LENGTH 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed O0;- 14, 1963 INVENTORS. 55222 252 2 y Hem/j? wusrsn ATTORN Nov. 16, 1965 F. SZIVATZ ETAL UMBRELLAUOF REDUCIBLE LENGTH 4 SheetsSheet 3 Filed Oct. 14, 1963 IN V EN TORS FEOORN TZ JOHAN BY [HIE/N7 WUSTER A T TOR M a 5 5L Nov. 16, 1965 Filed 001,. 14, 1963 F. SZIVATZ ETAL 3,217,724

UMBRELLA OF REDUCIBLE LENGTH 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTORS Fedor SZIVATZ, Johann EDER and v Attorney United States This invention relates to an umbrella frame of reducible length, which comprises a telescopic stick and telescopic rib sections as well as auxiliary spreaders or braces, which are hinged to the main spreaders as well as to an auxiliary runner guided on the upper stick section.

The opening of such umbrella frames involves the difliculty that the main spreaders, which are hinged to the main runner, tend to urge the ribs together rather than to swing them away from the stick. It has already been recognized that this difficulty may be overcome by providing on to the upper stick section a blocking means, which temporarily blocks or brakes the auxiliary runner during the opening movement and which is disengaged when the ribs have assumed a predetermined position during their opening movement.

To avoid the said disadvantages and to provide a simple and reliable blocking means for the auxiliary runner, in our new umbrella frame the disengagement of the blocking means for the auxiliary runner is controlled by a spring loaded in limited degree axially displaceable crown mounted on the outer end of the upper stick section. The movement of said crown is derived from the movement of the main runner by the combined action of the inner rib sections, which are hinged to the crown, and of the main spreaders, which pivot about the outer ends of the braces while their inner ends attached to the auxiliary runner are temporarily immobilized and the main runner continues to move upwardly against the crown.

The blocking means for the auxiliary runner is preferably formed by a spring, which is accommodated in the upper stick section and provided with a locking nose which protrudes through the wall of said stick section into the path of the movement of the auxiliary runner; said spring is disengageable by a preferably wedge-shaped actuating member which is adapted to act on the appropriately inclined upper portion of the spring and is coupled to the crown of the umbrella for movement therewith, for instance, by one or two connecting rods or the like.

A further simplification may be achieved if the spring serving to block the auxiliary runner is formed by the locking spring for the main runner or by the locking spring for the telescoped stick sections.

According to another feature of the invention, the blocking means for the auxiliary runner is formed by the lower end of a two-armed lever, resiliently mounted in the tubular upper stick section whereas the upper end of said lever is adapted to disengage the blocking means and is operable by the crown of the umbrella or by an actuating member connected to said crown. This design affords the advantage that the auxiliary runner may be temporarily arrested in a position disposed on a lower level relative to the handle of the umbrella, so that the temporary blocking of the auxiliary runner is effected fairly soon after the opening movement of the umbrella frame has been rotated by the upward moving main runner.

The said and other objects of our invention will be more fully understood from the following specification when read with the accompanying drawing in which three embodiments are shown.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show one embodiment of our new umbrella frame in upstanding position partly in section in partially opened and in fully opened position,

atcnt 3,217,724 Patented Nov. 16, 1965 FIG. 3 similarly shows, also partly in section, another embodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a cross section through the upper stick member along line IVIV of FIG. 3, and

FIG. 5 shows partly in section a third embodiment.

The same reference numerals indicate the same or equivalent parts in all figures. Wherever hereinafter the definitions upper or lower are used they indicate positions nearer to or respectively farther away from the crown, while the terms upwar and downward indicate directions away from or respectively toward the handle at the outer end of the lower stick section.

The embodiment of the umbrella frame shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a stick composed of two telescoped sections 1 and 2. The upper section 2 which telescopes into the lower section 1 carries at its outer end the crown 3, and the lower section 1 is provided at its outer end with a customary handle (not shown).

A plurality of bipartite telescopic ribs 4, each composed of an inner section 4a and an outer section 41), are hinged to the crown 3. As known in the art, spreaders 6 are hinged with one end to the rib sections 411 and with the other end to a main runner 5, and braces 7 are hinged with one end to an auxiliary runner 8 and with the other end either to a sleeve 7a fixed on said spreaders 6 substantially intermediate thereof, or to a slide 7a positionally adjusting itself on said spreaders 6.

The crown 3 of the umbrella is displaceably guided by a pin 10 in the upper stick section 2. A spring 11 urges the crown constantly away from the end of said stick section in an upward direction. This upward displacement is limited, for example, by a cross-pin 12 engaging a longitudinal slot 14 in the pin 10. The pin 10 is coupled by a connector 15 to an actuating member 16, which has preferably the form of a wedge and is adapted to coact with an appropriately inclined portion 17a of a locking spring 17 located within the tubular stick section 2 so as to retract the locking nose 18 of said spring. The lower edge 18a of the locking nose 18 serves to arrest the upwardly moving auxiliary runner 8 whereas the upper edge 18b of the nose 18 serves to lock the main runner 5 when the umbrella frame is open (FIG. 2). The spring means tending to urge the crown 3 and the associated wedge member 16 upwardly the means for limiting the movement of these parts, and the connector 15, particularly if it extends beyond the upper locking spring 17, may be designed in a different form, as is the case in other embodiments, which will be described hereinafter.

The mode of operation is as follows:

If the main runner 5 which has a flared upper end So, is pushed upwardly in order to open the umbrella frame, the auxiliary runner 8 which has a fiared lower end 8a will also be moved upwardly by the combined action of the main spreaders 6 and the braces 7 until the auxiliary runner engages the lower edge 18a of the locking nose 18 so that the auxiliary runner is blocked. The continued movement of the main runner 5 will then effect a further outward swinging of the ribs 4. At the same time the main spreaders 6 while pivoting about the ends of the blocked auxiliary spreaders 7 will exert a pull on the inner rib sections 4a. This pull is transmitted to the crown 3 and pulls the same down against the action of the spring 11, as is indicated by the arrows shown in the drawing.

The wedge member 16 participates in the downward movement of the crown 3, and acts against the portion 17a of the locking spring 17 to release the auxiliary runner 8 so that the latter can resume its upward movement. The crown 3 is returned by the spring 11 into its initial position in which it is held by the crosspin 12. The main runner 5 continuing its upward movement engages and retracts with its flared upper end 5a the nose 18 and passes 3 thereover to rest on the upper edge 18b of said nose thus holding the umbrella in open position as shown in FIG. 2.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the auxiliary runner 8 is blocked on a lower level nearer to the handle of the umbrella. This construction may be advantageous because the blocking of the auxiliary runner 8 begins much sooner so that the outward swinging of the ribs is even more reliably ensured.

The blocking means for the auxiliary runner 3 is separate from the resilient locking means 17, 18 for the main runner in its uppermost position. Said blocking means is formed by a spring 20, which is accommodated in the upper stick section 2 below said locking spring 17. The spring 20 has a locking nose 21, which protrudes into the path of movement of the auxiliary runner 8. The disengagement of the blocking means 20, 21 for the auxiliary runner is effected as in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The wedge member 16 coacting with the inclined portion 20a of the stick spring is coupled with the crown 3 or with its pin preferably by a pair of connecting rods a, which extend on opposite sides of the upper locking spring means 17, 18 (FIG. 4).

According to FIG. 5 the means for temporarily blocking the auxiliary runner 8 during the opening movement of the umbrella comprise a spring loaded two-armed lever 30, which is pivotally mounted in the tubular upper stick section 2; its lower end a extends outwardly through an opening in the stick section 2 and forms the blocking means proper. The upper end 30b of the two-armed lever 30 is adapted to coact with the actuating member 16 associated with the crown 3. The downward movement of the crown 3 causes the actuating member 16 to pivot the two-armed lever 30 in clockwise sense thereby retracting the lower end 30a of the lever and releasing the auxiliary runner 8 for continued upward movement. The actuating member may be formed by the bearing pin 10 of the crown. The two-armed lever 30 is acted upon by spring means, for example a bending spring 32 which is mounted on the pivotal pin 31 and unges the two-armed lever 30 towards its blocking position as shown. This embodiment affords also the advantage that the auxiliary runner S is temporarily arrested in an early phase of the opening in a fairly low position nearer to the handle of the umbrella.

It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to the embodiments which have been described and shown by way of example. Alternatively, for instance, the crown 3 of the umbrella could be integral with the actuating member or wedge-shaped member 16 and may consist, for example, of plastic material.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. In a contractible umbrella frame the improvement comprising in combination (a) a telescopic stick including a lower section and an upper section slidable into the former;

(b) a crown mounted on the outer end of said upper section for restricted displacement in axial direction relative thereto;

(c) spring means tending to hold the crown distanced from said outer end;

(d) a plurality of extendable ribs each including an inner section articulated to said crown and an outer section;

(e) a main runner slidable on said lower stick section and over the upper stick section into an uppermost position;

(f) an auxiliary runner slidable on said upper stick section between a lowermost and an uppermost position near the crown;

(g) a plurality of Spreaders, each articulated at one end to the main runner and at its other end to the inner section of one of the ribs;

(h) a plurality of braces, each articulated at one end to the auxiliary runner and at its other end to one spreader intermediate its ends;

(i) retractible arresting means on the upper stick member temporaritly blocking the auxiliary runner in its upward movement after an initial partial opening of the frame;

(j) actuating means operatively associated with the displaceable crown to retract said arresting means and to unblock the auxiliary runner for continued upward movement into its uppermost position;

1;) said main runner adapted to retract and to pass over said arresting means during its upward movement into its uppermost position;

(1) and releasable locking means holding the main runner in its uppermost position; the displacement of the crown in downward direction against the force of said spring being effected by the pull exerted by the ribs on the crown while the auxiliary runner is temporarily blocked and the main runner continues to move towards its uppermost position.

2. A contractible umbrella frame according to claim 1 including combined arresting means for the auxiliary runner and locking means for the main runner, said combined means comprising a nose freely protruding the wall of the upper stick member and having a lower arresting face for the auxiliary runner and an upper locking face for the main runner; and second spring means within said upper stick section urging said nose into said protruding position.

3. A contractible umbrella frame according to claim 2 comprising a wedge-shaped actuating member firmly associated with the displaceable crown and a leaf spring resting with its lower end on the wall of the stick section and having an inclined upper end for cooperation with said wedge-shaped member.

4. A contractible umbrella frame according to claim ll wherein said arresting means comprise a two-armed lever mounted in the upper stick section in longitudinal direction thereof; the end of the lower lever arm freely protruding through the wall of said stick section; second spring means acting upon said lever and urging said end into said protruding position; and the upper arm of said lever adapted to cooperate with said actuating means to retract the protruding end of the lower lever arm to release the temporarily blocked auxiliary runner.

References Gited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,969,821 8/1934 Saxon et al -27 2,088,127 7/1937 Zeitschler 135-26 2,156,984 5/1939 Haupt 135-26 3,003,509 10/1961 Hibbard 135-25 FOREIGN PATENTS 534,939 2/ 1955 Belgium.

HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CONTRACTIBLE UMBRELLA FRAME THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING IN COMBINATION (A) A TELESCOPIC STICK INCLUDING A LOWER SECTION AND AN UPPER SECTION SLIDABLE INTO THE FORMER; (B) A CROWN MOUNTED ON THE OUTER END OF SAID UPPER SECTION FOR RESTRICTED DISPLACEMENT IN AXIAL DIRECTION RELATIVE THERETO; (C) SPRING MEANS TENDING TO HOLD THE CROWN DISTANCED FROM SAID OUTER END; (D) A PLURALITY OF EXTENDABLE RIBS EACH INCLUDING AN INNER SECTION ARTICULATED TO SAID CROWN AND AN OUTER SECTION; (E) A MAIN RUNNER SLIDABLE ON SAID LOWER STICK SECTION AND OVR THE UPPER STICK SECTION INTO AN UPPERMOST POSTION; (F) AN AUXILIARY RUNNER SLIDABLE ON SAID UPPER STICK SECTION BETWEEN A LOWERMOST AND AN UPPERMOST POSITION NEAR THE CROWN; (G) A PLURALITY OF SPREADERS, EACH ARTICULATED AT ONE END TO THE MAIN RUNNER AND AT ITS OTHER END TO THE INNER SECTION OF ONE OF THE RIBS; (H) A PLURALITY OF BRACES, EACH ARTICULATED AT ONE END TO THE AUXILIARY RUNNER AND AT ITS OTHER END TO ONE SPREADER INTERMEDIATE ITS ENDS; (I) RETRACTIBLE ARRESTING MEANS ON THE UPPER STICK MEMBER TEMPORARILY BLOCKING THE AUXILIARY RUNNER IN ITS 